Akebia Therapeutics (NASDAQ:AKBA) Stock Price Down 6.5% - Should You Sell?

Shares of Akebia Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:AKBA - Get Free Report) traded down 6.5% during mid-day trading on Monday . The stock traded as low as $2.36 and last traded at $2.39. 1,398,303 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 50% from the average session volume of 2,815,118 shares. The stock had previously closed at $2.55.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AKBA has been the subject of several recent research reports. Leerink Partners assumed coverage on shares of Akebia Therapeutics in a research report on Monday, April 28th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $7.00 target price for the company. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on shares of Akebia Therapeutics in a report on Tuesday, April 1st. They set a "buy" rating and a $6.00 price target on the stock. Leerink Partnrs upgraded shares of Akebia Therapeutics to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Monday, April 28th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Akebia Therapeutics from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, May 3rd. Finally, HC Wainwright reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $7.50 target price on shares of Akebia Therapeutics in a research note on Friday, April 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, four have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Akebia Therapeutics has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $6.63.

Akebia Therapeutics Price Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $653.15 million, a PE ratio of -10.85 and a beta of 0.88. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $2.09 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $2.00.

Akebia Therapeutics (NASDAQ:AKBA - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $0.03 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.03) by $0.06. The business had revenue of $57.34 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $44.88 million. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Akebia Therapeutics, Inc. will post -0.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Akebia Therapeutics

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of Akebia Therapeutics in the 4th quarter worth $26,000. PDS Planning Inc bought a new position in shares of Akebia Therapeutics during the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Mariner LLC bought a new position in shares of Akebia Therapeutics during the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Unified Investment Management boosted its position in Akebia Therapeutics by 47.8% during the 1st quarter. Unified Investment Management now owns 17,000 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 5,500 shares during the period. Finally, Cibc World Markets Corp purchased a new stake in Akebia Therapeutics during the 4th quarter valued at $37,000. Institutional investors own 33.92% of the company's stock.

About Akebia Therapeutics

Akebia Therapeutics, Inc, a biopharmaceutical company, focuses on the development and commercialization of therapeutics for patients with kidney diseases. The company's lead product investigational product candidate is Vafseo (vadadustat), an oral hypoxia-inducible factor prolyl hydroxylase, which is in Phase III development for the treatment of anemia due to chronic kidney disease (CKD) in dialysis-dependent and non-dialysis dependent patients.